Issue one: Bradshaw is a hoot. He can certainly come off as a bumpkin but that seems like mostly an act to me, or at least a concious decision to not repress that side of himself on air. That being said I also find his commentary to be among the most perceptive of any of the ex-jock, ex-coach ilk. John Madden certainly could hold a candle to him. Too bad he no longer works the booth.
Issue Two: Jim McMahon is without a doubt the dimmest QB to ever grace the league. Even watching an interview with him was a painful experience. On the field all he had was an arm. He contributed nothing else to the team.
I’ll say this to begin with : I hate Bradshaw as a commentator and hated him as a player, growing up a Cowboys fan. However, he was a great QB.
I disagree that it doesn't take intelligence to be a great QB. It more than just practice and the ability to throw the ball. You have five seconds, tops, to read the defense, find a receiver and complete the pass, all why trying to avoid being sacked by a 300 poiund lineman. You have to think quick on your feet and be able to make snap decisions.
However, this is not the same type of intelligence it takes to perform brain surgery or become a nuclear scientist. Its a different kind of intelligence and skill.
Bradshaw was a great QB, but far from the best ever. He benefited greatly from a great team. One year in the mid-70s, either the ENTIRE starting Pitt defense or just about the entire defense was voted to the Pro Bowl. Still, you cannot deny he was great at his position. You don't win 4 SBs by being mediocre and it is true that in the latter years, especially in the final SB against Dallas, they certainly relied on his arm in the 35-31 win.
Although I love Larry Bird and hate Bradshaw, I think they are very similar. Bird is admittedly a "Hick from French Lick" and truly is of average, at best, intelligence. However, he knows the games of basketball better than just about any player ever to step on the court. He did the most with limited physical skills. He was a great leader on the floor.
Hollywood Henderson was the one with that great quote about Bradshaw not being able to spell CAT if you spotted him the C and T. He said it before one of the SBs that the Steelers then ending up winning against the Cowboys. If you like pro football, Henderson's autobiography, "Confessions of an NFL tragedy," is a great read.
I know QBs used to call their own plays, but I am not sure if they were still doing it in the 1970s. ALso, if they were it was in an era which much simpler defensive and offensive schemes.
I don't know who the "dumbest" QB to ever play is. However, I think Steve Young (has a law degree) and Peyton Manning may be two of the smartest QBs ever to play the game. I doubt anyone in the game has as much football knowledge, both historical and practical, as Peyton Manning. He benefited from growing up with the game, but it is still remarkable. He is the only QB that currently really runs the team from on the field.
Egad. I would have never imagined anyone comparing running an NFL offense to driving a truck.
It’s true that many football players don’t have the book smarts of most of the posters on this board. But that doesn’t mean they’re dumb. And no quarterback could survive in the NFL if he was dumb. The offenses – even in the 70s – were too complex. Heck, the game of football is too complex.
Regarless of whether a QB is calling all the plays on offense (and I believe Bradshaw was calling most of his offense), he still has to be able to read a defense. Based on that read, the QB has to check in or out of plays at the line of scrimmage. And a number of plays are called as “either/or” plays in the huddle. So a QB will essentially call two (or more) plays in the huddle, approach the line, and make a snap decision about which play to run.
In making decisions on “either/or” plays or whether to call an audible, the QB has to be able to look at the position each defensive player is lined up in and decide what the defense is going to do. He also has to consider that defenses are often disguising what they’re running by positioning themselves in different places. He has to consider the down and distance. He has to consider the strengths and weaknesses of each play. He has to consider the strengths and weaknesses of each defensive set. He has to consider the individual matchups at play (Who are their best players? Where are they positioned on the field? Where are our best players positioned? How can we minimize their impact? Is someone having a bad game? Is someone injured? Is someone particularly good against a particular type of play? Is someone particularly good at a particular type of play?). And he has to consider the game situation (Are we winning? By how much? How much time is left? How many timeouts do we have? Can we afford to use those timeouts? If not, do we need to stop the clock?). And he has to consider that the defense is disguising what it’s going to run, hoping to set him up to make a bad play call.
To be frank, the factors are nearly endless. And the QB has to consider them all and make a decision in the 5 to 10 seconds between the time he breaks the huddle and takes the snap.
I assure you that people that have never played football would be astonished by the number of decisions that football players make before and during every play. And no one needs to use their head more than QBs.
I’m not saying Bradshaw could have gotten into an Ivy League college. But we had National Merit Scholars on our high school team, and we had a finalist for a Rhodes scholarship on our college team, and they couldn’t figure the stuff out. It’s not that simple.
Chalk up another vote for Bradshaw being reasonably smart from a Cowboys fan and guy that hated Bradshaw when he played.
I am a lifelong Steelers fan. I am also a football fan, and I try to be as objective as I can while still being a fan. A few points to illustrate that me being a football fan can override my Steelers’ homer-ism:
• I agree that Bradshaw was very good, but not great. As others have said, his supporting cast would make any QB look a lot better.
• I don’t think that Lynn Swann belongs in the Hall of Fame
• I’m not sure Jerome Bettis should go to the Hall of Fame
Now, hopefully having shed any opinions that I am blind homer…
WHAT WHAT WHAT?!?
Are you really calling the '78 Steelers D over the hill and overrated? I’ll admit by '79 they were starting to show slight signs of being human, but the '78 Steelers D are among the very best of all time. Since the NFL went to 16 game seasons, only 3 defenses have ever allowed fewer points.
The Cowboys scored 31 points on that team in the Super Bowl, and would have scored 35 if Jackie Smith held on to an easy TD pass.
The offense won that Super Bowl for the Steelers. Only fair, of course, since the defense won the first one all by itself (Bradshaw regularly admits as much).
They also allowed 24 points to the Oilers and the Chiefs in games that year…so what? 31 points allowed to the best team in the NFC does not undermine the dominance they displayed all year long. They averaged 11.67 PPG allowed over the 18 games prior to that, including the AFCDPG and the AFCCG.
Also, just because I was curious, you mentioned Wendell Tyler tearing them apart in 1979…I looked at the stats. He had 17 carries for 60 yards.
We (the generic “we”, as in humanity) tend to have this notion that “intelligence” is some sort of all-encompassing one-size-fits-all attribute; and, to conflate it with sophistication, with talent for a particular pursuit, with accumulation of knowledge, with practiced learned skills, and with wisdom. These are all separate components of the whole person.
Anyone catch the Daily Show’s clip of Bradshaw on the capture of Saddam on the NFL preview show? His only reply to James Brown’s report was “Osama, you’re next!”.
Jon Stewart: “It is definitely on. Terry Bradshaw has issued the fatwa.”
By his own admission Bradshaw is Bipolar. He said so himself. Talking about some badass defensive lineman (I think) Bradshaw said something like “…that guy is Bipolar, just like me, and if he ain’t taking his medications…” His tone was totally sincere, and I remain convinced to this day that Bradshaw does have Bipolar Disease. And maybe sometimes it shows.
Remember when Chris Collingsworth worked that show along with Bradshaw, et al?
On one Sunday Bradshaw went on a long rant about some game situation and went into considerable detail on just why it wasn’t the QB’s fault.
Then Chris rather meekly piped up to disagree and gave a very convincing argument to refute Terry’s stance.
If looks could kill, Chris would be long dead. I think Terry made some sneering remark, and Chris said, “You don’t have to treat me like chopped liver.”
Still with the sneer, Bradshaw replied for all the football world to hear, “You are chopped liver.”
Shortly thereafter, poor Chris lost his job.
Never felt warm feelings for Bradhsaw after that. But like a lot of folks here, I do think he (and Swann) are hall of famers.
Intelligence aside, he really is a yokel in private life, but in a good way. My brother helped build his house ten years ago. Bradshaw was running all over the site helping whoever he could with getting his house built (mostly he helped the landscapers lay sod), acting like a kid on Christmas day.
You know, I don’t always agree with Bradshaw, but I think he was dead-on.
(No I don’t know what Chris’s argument was, and i don’t care. He’s so full of shit that I can smell it coming through the TV…Nearly every single week I thought Howie Long was going to belt ol’ Mr. Chopped Liver across the studio. I longed for the day…)
Bradshaw kind of has a way of bringing everybody down to his level. Howie Long tries to be serious, but he cracks in 2 seconds when Bradshaw has his say. Plus, I like the way Bradshaw tries to make Jim Brown lose his professional cool. One time Brown had some drool on his face, and next thing you know, Bradshaw’s hand came from off camera to wipe it off. Brown looked ready to kill him for a split second.
Collinsworth just rubs me the wrong way, for some reason. When he’s doing games, he’s fine, but when he was in the studio…he just irritated me.
That said, I suspect that Terry Bradshaw plays up the yokel thing for TV. He may be a goof in real life, but I suspect he’s a larger goof since he’s playing the clown on the show. And I love watching Howie Long try to put on his Super-Serious Face while TB is yapping away…
I’ve never seen him in any TV sitcoms or movies, or whatever, but Bradshaw does seem to have a flair for comedy. Okay so he plays the rube.
So did that Gomer Pyle character, but that guy made me want to do was puke. Terry’s genuinely funny - and sometimes even when he’s not doing the yokel routine.
As a lifelong Bucs fan, I want to nominate Vinny Testaverde. For crying out loud, whoever heard of a color blind QB? Especially when the one of the team’s colors (at that time) is ORANGE!
His does overplay his act at times, like when he slapped Letterman’s face on The Late Show. One of the only times I’ve seen Dave lose his cool for real.
